The present inventors have recognized that the presence of metal objects or surfaces in hands-free dispensers, in the vicinity of the hand sensor, sometimes adversely affects the hand sensor performance. United States Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868, the entirety of which is hereby expressly incorporated by reference herein, describes a hands-free dispenser in which a capacitive hand (proximity) sensor projects through an opening in the front cover of the dispenser, which permits the dispenser cover to have a metallic outer surface.
When developing dispensers as described in United States Published Patent Application No. 2007/0234868, it has been found that when the cover has a nickel-plated outer surface, the performance of the capacitive hand sensor can be adversely affected, resulting, for example, in decreased sensitivity of the hand sensor, hypersensitivity of the hand sensor, and/or spontaneous shutting down of the hand sensor. Additional problems can arise due to accumulation of static electricity on the metallic dispenser parts and/or surfaces, which can result in problems such as double feeding of the absorbent sheet through the internal rollers of the dispenser, spontaneous shutting down of the hand sensor, and uncontrolled dispensing of paper.